The AAWAA Women’s Advocate
Episodes
TUF: Women as a sex class in a world of 'identity'
04 Apr 2026
Contributed by Lukas
In this first episode of The Unmoved Feminist, Martine and Liv dig into one of the most consequential shifts of the past two decades: the gradual disp...
Repeat episode. Forced alignment: Defending our feminist tradition
02 Apr 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Repeat episode for the Easter holiday. Emma and Liv push back against the mischaracterisation of women's rights organisations advocating for sex-b...
Local Action: Accuracy over approval, Dr Megan Blake
31 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Emma and Sue spotlight Local action with Dr Megan Blake, barrister for the Lesbian Action Group and president of the new YAEL Women’s Defence Guild....
The unintended consequences of Victoria's conversion ban
26 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Emma and Amber discuss Victoria's Change or Suppression (Conversion) Practices Prohibition Act, which is currently under review by the Victorian...
Equality Australia, tax perks and a Governor‑General beyond scrutiny
19 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Equality Australia has been ruled an advocacy body, knocked back for standard charity tax status, and then rescued with a bespoke DGR deal, vice‑reg...
Constructive reduction: How NCC 2025 cuts female‑only toilets
12 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode Emma and Suzi unpack the NCC 2025 preview’s new ‘all‑gender’ toilet option and what it really means for women’s access to sa...
CEDAW and the Netherlands: Why “sex work” isn’t women’s rights
05 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Emma and Amber examine the CEDAW Committee’s advance observations on the Netherlands, asking what it means when a UN women’s rights body talks abo...
Dismissed, delayed, doubted: The age pension audit and what it doesn't say
26 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Emma and Suzi examine the Auditor-General's comprehensive performance audit of age pension administration in light of evidence AAWAA submitted to ...
Three commissioners, one conversation: womens advocates brief the Australian Human Rights Commission
19 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Emma is joined by Megan to unpack a significant development for womens advocacy in Australia: a formal meeting between AAWAA, Feminist Legal Clinic, t...
Underground again: How governance failures erase lesbian rights
12 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Emma and Luci examine violence and discrimination affecting lesbian and bisexual women in Australia. They unpack how governance failures themselves co...
Male violence against mothers: Making it visible
05 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Emma and Lucy unpack violence against mothers – a form of sex-based harm that remains dangerously invisible in international policy. They examine th...
Criminalising advocacy: Why Australia's hate groups bill threatens political freedom
15 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Emma and Megan unpack the Combatting Antisemitism, Hate and Extremism Bill 2026 – a framework that criminalises organisational membership based on a...
Christmas wrap 2025: AAWAA's year of consolidation and strategic advocacy
23 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
AAWAA's Christmas Wrap for 2025: Emma hosts Martine, Luci, and Suzi as they look back on a transformative year for AAWAA. They discuss coordinated...
Can the ALRC recommend surrogacy abolition? What the law actually says
18 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
On 18 December, feminist organisations attended an ALRC roundtable on surrogacy law reform – and witnessed an independent review apparently structur...
Abolition or regulation? The ALRC's surrogacy review and feminist resistance
11 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Emma and Amber discuss the Australian Law Reform Commission's review of surrogacy laws, examining why the roundtable with feminist organisations i...
Beyond 'yes' and 'no': Structural inequality and the law of rape
04 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, Emma is joined by Lucy and Liv to discuss their formal submission to the statutory review of sexual consent laws. In 2021, NSW introd...
Evidence required: Why Australia must assess impact on women
27 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Emma and Liv expose why consultation alone cannot satisfy Australia's obligations under CEDAW. Governments across Australia are treating consultat...
Institutional capture? The ABC, advocacy, and accountability
20 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode of the Women's Advocate, Emma and Megan discuss the ABC’s relationship with ACON, the LGBTQ+ advocacy organisation behind the Au...
Campaigning against the UN expert on women: DFAT's gender back-channels revealed
12 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
We unpack revelations from a Freedom of Information release showing how the Australian Government works behind the scenes to push back against indepen...
Forced alignment: Defending our feminist tradition
30 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Emma and Liv push back against the mischaracterisation of women's rights organisations advocating for sex-based protections as 'right-wing'...
FOI evidence of systematic exclusion: Stakeholders versus submissions
23 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Emma and Megan unpack shocking FOI evidence showing systematic exclusion of women's groups from policies affecting our sex-based protections and r...
From sex self-ID to women's sex-based protection: NT leads the way
16 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, Emma and Martine explore the Northern Territory’s landmark decision to ban all male prisoners from women’s jails—an “on my wa...
Inquiring into uncertainty: The AHRC's unused powers
13 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Emma and Megan examine how forty years after the Sex Discrimination Act was passed to implement CEDAW, confusion over sex-based protections is leaving...
Local Action: Janet Fraser — roots, backlash, and the renaissance ahead
07 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Emma and Sue unpack Janet Fraser’s journey from second‑wave roots and lesbian organising in the ’90s to founding Joyous Birth after a traumatic ...
Women shut out: Inside WA’s surrogacy overhaul
05 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Emma hosts Amber and Martine to unpack Western Australia’s surrogacy ‘reform’: how an industry‑led process sidelined women’s voices, abolish...
Where there is no consultation: WA surrogacy, NSW ‘equality’, and QLD’s sex self-ID problem
02 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Emma hosts Amber and Lucy for a ground-level look at how exclusion of women from consultation is producing bad law across Australia. From WA’s indus...
Demanding accountability: Why we questioned the Sex Discrimination Commissioner at the National Press Club
26 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Emma and Megan discuss AAWAA's direct questioning of the Sex Discrimination Commissioner at the National Press Club about her powers, obligations,...
Tasmania’s crossroads: Ending prostitution to protect women and girls
23 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Emma and Luci examine the Women’s Action Alliance Tasmania’s call on the Tasmanian Government for the abolition of prostitution and urgent law ref...
Losing our rights? Monitoring the AHRC’s turn away from women
18 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Emma and Amber put the Australian Human Rights Commission under the spotlight, questioning its shift away from meaningful, sexed-based protections for...
Local Action: The builder, Feminist matriarch Merike Johnson
11 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, Emma and Sue explore the life of Merike Johnson—a refugee, scientist and feminist trailblazer—tracing her journey from a post-war...
Scotland’s abolition bill: How Australia must go further
09 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Emma and Luci examine Scotland’s pioneering Prostitution (Offences and Support) Bill and what it means for the rights, safety, and dignity of women ...
Not at the stakeholder table: The ongoing exclusion of women in policy
03 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, Emma and Amber examine the government’s claims about “engaging stakeholders” and reveal how those of us most affected—women a...
Hidden in plain sight: Australia’s failure to protect women’s rights
28 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Emma and Megan take listeners inside our coalition’s major submission to the Universal Periodic Review, exposing how the Australian government is er...
False equivalence: The wrongs of treating surrogacy as fertility support
27 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Emma and Lucy look at the dangers of merging Assisted Reproductive Technologies (ARTs) with surrogacy under a single legislative umbrella. They unpack...
From crisis to care: Putting women and girls at the heart of NSW’s Mental Health Strategy
26 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Emma and Lucy examine the urgent issues shaping mental health and wellbeing for women and girls across New South Wales. They explore why current poli...
Local Action: Justice and resistance, Isla MacGregor’s activist legacy
23 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Emma and Sue highlight Isla MacGregor, a front-line campaigner since the early 1990s, whose work with Whistleblowers Australia and activism against co...
Bad law, silenced voices: WA’s ART & Surrogacy Bill
18 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Amber and Martine join Emma to expose the deep flaws in Western Australia’s Assisted Reproductive Technology and Surrogacy Bill 2025. Amber outlines...
Blueprint for female toilets: The ongoing struggle for women-only facilities
15 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Emma and Suzi break down the ongoing debate over ‘all-gender’ toilet facilities in the National Construction Code, revealing how small policy chan...
Safeguarding our status: What women need from anti-discrimination law reform
14 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Emma chats with Lucy to unpack the NSW Women’s Action Alliance submission to the state’s Anti-Discrimination Act review. They discuss why legal cl...
A National Apology for women and girls in prostitution: Truth, reform, justice, and restoration
10 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Emma and Amber call on the Prime Minister and the Minister for Women to provide a National Apology for all women and girls harmed, criminalised, and...
Guidelines or law? Why government policy doesn’t trump the Sex Discrimination Act
07 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Emma and Suzi unpack the NSW Law Reform Commission's current review of the Anti-Discrimination Act, with a special focus on government guidelines ...
Female association on trial: Who belongs in women's spaces in Tickle v Giggle
04 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, Emma and Martine take you deep into the heart of a significant legal battle — the Tickle v Giggle case — exploring who counts as ...
Where’s the line? Balancing hate speech, women’s rights, and free speech in NSW
03 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Emma and Lucy unpack the NSW Women’s Action Alliance’s latest submission on hate speech law reform. They explore why the incitement to violence th...
Local Action: Reclaiming lesbian space, The Carole Ann episode
03 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Emma and Sue talk about how Carole Ann and the Lesbian Action Group have been a driving force in defending lesbian-only spaces in the face of mounting...
Triple A for women: The path to the abolition of prostitution in Australia
01 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Emma is joined by Luci and Amber to explore why Australia’s approach to prostitution urgently needs to change — and what we can learn from bold re...
Holding Australia to account: Providing evidence to the United Nations
23 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Emma and Luci explain how the CSW communications process lets women’s groups present evidence of systemic violations—like the silencing of advocac...
Unintended chaos: The legal fallout of two missing words
22 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Emma and Lucy unpack the renewed debate about what Australia’s parliament really intended when it removed the definitions of “woman” and “man”...
Revolutionising gender care: A call for comprehensive change
21 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Emma and Amber break down the Queensland Government’s review of hormone therapies for children and teens with gender dysphoria. Drawing on new evide...
Local Action: Everyday resistance every day, Nerissa Scott’s story
19 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Emma and Sue discuss Nerissa Scott’s activism, which began in childhood and flows through protests, petitions, and solidarity actions across Brisban...
Women's rights in Australia: A step backward?
16 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Emma and Meg unpack our feminist coalition’s latest submission to the UN, explaining how gaps in law and policy are undermining sex-based rights and...
How AAWAA works: Principles, structure, and advocacy in action
01 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Emma and Amber take listeners behind the scenes of AAWAA, explaining what the coalition does, how it is structured, and the guiding principles that dr...
Local Action: Betty McLellan’s feminist ethic
20 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
A tribute to Dr Betty McLellan, this episode with Emma and Sue traces her impact as a therapist, philosopher and writer. Listeners hear how her call f...
The secrets of strategic advocacy, AAWAA’s 2025 election campaign: Part 3, What real engagement looks like—Impact, insights, and lessons learned
16 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Emma and Martine break down what our election campaign actually achieved: response rates by party and state, the quality of candidate engagement, and ...
The secrets of strategic advocacy, AAWAA’s 2025 election campaign. Part 2, The big push: From preparation to real-rime political action
12 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Emma and Martine take you inside the real-world challenge of engaging 700+ election candidates across Australia. Explore how minor parties and regiona...
The secrets of strategic advocacy, AAWAA’s 2025 election campaign. Part 1, Foundations: How national grassroots advocacy takes shape
01 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Emma and Martine reveal what it really takes to build a national women's rights campaign from the ground up. From manually compiling contact detai...
Unveiling the hidden rules of women's sports rights
15 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Emma and Amber expose how local clubs are left confused about protecting female-only competition. They break down the “permanent exemption” in Aus...
Local Action: Advocating for biological reality, Stassja Frei
06 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Emma and Sue introduce you to Stassja Frei, a researcher and organiser whose early work with the Coalition for Biological Reality and her thoughtful c...
Navigating gender law: UK vs Australia unpacked
29 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Emma and Amber break down the sharp legal differences between how the UK and Australia define ‘woman’ and manage single-sex spaces. They explain t...
Clarity in controversy: The UK ruling on ‘woman' explained
26 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Emma and Amber break down the UK Supreme Court’s landmark decision defining ‘woman’ as biological sex under the Equality Act—and why the rulin...
The hidden crisis of women's retirement security
23 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Emma and Lucy explore why the age pension in Australia isn’t working for most older women. Join them as they reveal how outdated rules, gaps in supe...
A new voice for women’s advocacy in Australia: The AAWAA Women’s Advocate
21 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Emma and Amber introduce the Affiliation of Australian Women’s Advocacy Alliances’ new podcast. They discuss the vision behind the series, its foc...